Racial Genetic Advantages?

Ok, my basis for the argument is from an extremely minute observance of the overall world, but I seem to notice that some people of certain races are better at certain things (regardless of the environment they grow up in). It sounds so racist, but, as much as I’ve seen, it holds true for the people around me, that’s why I’m writing this: have any of you noticed that certain races are better at certain aspects at life (such as mathematics, linguistic skills, athletic skills, etc.) regardless of upcoming?

Again, I do not mean to diminish or stereotype anyone, just trying to see what other people think about this… I could be HORRIBLY wrong about this.

Different cultures valued different things whne they were seperated, and now that they are together they see what was emphasised in their culture (in a distorted way) in the modern world. Africans are better at sports because in their original culture, AFAIK, strength was a major factor in if you lived or died, as an example.

Different cultures valued different things whne they were seperated, and now that they are together they see what was emphasised in their culture (in a distorted way) in the modern world. Africans are better at sports because in their original culture, AFAIK, strength was a major factor in if you lived or died, as an example.

I agree. But, for example, someone I know who is African is extremely separated from that culture, yet he is naturally much better than all the “white” kids at my school at sports. I hate to use such stereotypes, but I am just wondering if they hold a grain of truth.

So what? It is genetics, not from now, but from back when all the Africans were in, well, Africa, living as they did. African Americans bred mostly with other African American, and the athleticism genes passed down, even if a family did break off and act less “black” than others.

aC, since athleticism was valued, then the people genetically predisposed to be faster, stronger, taller, and otherwise better for surviving would be the ones breeding. So I don’t see your point, at all.

I got this from a Chris Rock rant, so may not be entirely accurate, but the reason black people are better at sports are because slave owners would only let the physically strongest slaves have children.

But black people being better at sports wasn’t the only thing I’ve found… I’ve found that certain races are more naturally good at mathematics, others at language… I mean, it could be a coincidence for where I go to school, but it almost seems too consistent to be an illusion.

aC, since athleticism was valued, then the people genetically predisposed to be faster, stronger, taller, and otherwise better for surviving would be the ones breeding.

You’re saying that only the athletic Africans survived because of the pressure of their culture on it? Ok, so what advantage did being tall give them in this supposedly highly athletic culture that caused all the short ones to die out and tall genetics to be bread into the race? What about the shorter ones that still exist? Do they exist because their culture did not pressure them to be athletic?

What about all the other cultures that have been athletic? Why aren’t all Greeks the best athletes in the world with the top genetic advantages? They we’re the epitome of athletes in the ancient world and our Olympics are based on their events.

References on this? Or is this just your personal theory of ‘survival of the athletic’?

Well, I will simply tell you what I have observed… the people (at least at my school) tend to show the following:

- The people good at mathematics have a viable amount of Italian/ Mediterranean heritage, and I have found many Chinese and Japanese friends to be very good at math too (though these may be from culture)

- Also people with heritage to areas that speak a certain language tend to be good at that language, even if they are not attached to their ancestors’ cultures (i.e. people with British heritage tend to do better with English, people with Italian do better with Latin, people with essentially eastern European heritage do much better in Spanish)

Again, I don’t know enough people to make scientific conclusions, for these may just be coincidences.

I got this from a Chris Rock rant, so may not be entirely accurate, but the reason black people are better at sports are because slave owners would only let the physically strongest slaves have children.

This is entirley true and although the cultural influences were a factor in this case, they were different from other societies in that the slave owners wanted only strong slaves. So naturally they would breed the best male-female pair of slaves brought over from Africia. They, in essence, were bread along the lines of livestock or racehorses.

certain races are better at certain aspects at life (such as mathematics, linguistic skills, athletic skills, etc.) regardless of upcoming?

The people good at mathematics have a viable amount of Italian/ Mediterranean heritage, and I have found many Chinese and Japanese friends to be very good at math too (though these may be from culture)

I haven’t come across the Italian/Mediterranean one before, but I think Chinese and Japanese (Oriental?) parents tend to put a high value on maths, so I think it is mostly culture.

Also people with heritage to areas that speak a certain language tend to be good at that language, even if they are not attached to their ancestors’ cultures (i.e. people with British heritage tend to do better with English, people with Italian do better with Latin, people with essentially eastern European heritage do much better in Spanish)

For the bold, do you mean western? I would think that if I had some ties to a country, I would have greater reason to learn it, so would try harder than someone who just had to pick a language to learn at school. There may also be some pride in that it is the language of your family’s origin, so you want to be the best in the class at it.

You’re saying that only the athletic Africans survived because of the pressure of their culture on it? Ok, so what advantage did being tall give them in this supposedly highly athletic culture that caused all the short ones to die out and tall genetics to be bread into the race? What about the shorter ones that still exist? Do they exist because their culture did not pressure them to be athletic?

Being tall would go with having a large build, which would mean they would be harder to get killed and better fit to survive. Short black people exist, because it is possible that there were short strong ones that could survive, or that recessive short genes were passed down and expressed in some African people.

What about all the other cultures that have been athletic? Why aren’t all Greeks the best athletes in the world with the top genetic advantages? They we’re the epitome of athletes in the ancient world and our Olympics are based on their events.

Ok, so what? It isn’t like the Greeks are stereotypically sluggish, weak, or unatheletic, is it? Usually the stereotype is that they are pretty healthy. But anyway, if there is anything to this, they had much more time to interbreed and have their specific advantages weaken, compared to Africans who were taken as slaves and (according to Kyriva) only allowed to have kids if they were stronger. Now that they are finally free, less atheltic African people may emerge, just as less people with African heritage are purely African.

References on this? Or is this just your personal theory of ‘survival of the athletic’?

Hey, if you want to question Survival of the Fittest, a basic concept of evolution, that is your choice. Refusing to accept it isn’t making my argument any less valid.

And I have just realized the flaw in my logic… Many of these races who “specialize” in certain things are very common where I live, so the ones that stand out in certain areas tend to be seen… I don’t know if you see what I’m trying to say… but I am still curious if anyone thinks that attributes such as athletics and intellect are connected to race at least somewhat (and again, I don’t mean to glorify or offend anybody)

Hey, if you want to question Survival of the Fittest, a basic concept of evolution, that is your choice.

He’s not questioning survival of the fittest, mils. He’s questioning whether the fitness criteria you’ve provided are accurate. They’re not. Big huge people are not the fittest in areas with less food, like most of the world in the 1500s.

L33T3R: It’s nurture, not nature. The only genetic black people have is to stay out in the sun.

Nature gives capacity, Nurture governs ability with effectiveness or “ability” of capacity. Most sciences already agreed that nurture cannot be without nature, and vice versa. If you weren’t born with wings, I’d think that you would have a tough time flying on your own.

I’d say it has little to do with genetics and more to do with culture. I’ve seen plenty of people, enough to realize that. Now maybe in your culture, where you live, it’s possible that almost 100% of blacks are good at sports/athletic, etc. But that doesn’t necessarily make it true elsewhere.

Furthermore, (in my opinion of course) if you look at it scientifically, non-physical abilities don’t really matter in terms of genetic development. I guess what I’m trying to say is that being good at math, for example, probably doesn’t increase your chances of surviving and reproducing, thus passing those genes on to future generations. Therefore, even if such activities were influenced by genetics any beneficial traits would be just as likely to pop up in any ethnicity.

Anyway, that kind of talk is pointless for me, since I believe that you don’t need a DNA test to tell you who you are or what you are capable of.

The math things is symptomatic of certain immigrant groups. many Asiatic cultures follow Confucian principles of education, and tend to be very good students all in all. The excelling at math is more an issue of transition. For students that were taught multiple subjects in secondary education levels in their home country, math is arguably the most easily adapted. most of the symbols, numeric values, and meanings in higher math don’t change substantially from country to country, because academics everywhere tend to stick with one “language set” for math and most of the hard sciences. I could write four with a superscript of two following it, and it would mean “four squared” in almost every and any major academic institution in the developed world. So math is the one area where most immigrants have the lowest serious barrier. Therefore, the appearance is that they’re excelling at math, when they are actually just very clever students who are performing well, probably because of their parental upbringing.

Race, on the other hand, is at best a theoretical category humans create. there isn’t even really a clear delineation of “race,” really. Unlike gender. At least with that, there’s identifiable physical biology. Even though even that has debatable elements whihc for another forum entirely.

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